TAYLOR CONFIRMED FOR CROLLA LINARES BILL – @katietaylor

Katie Taylor’s fourth professional fight will take place on the undercard of Anthony Crolla’s World Lightweight title unification rematch with Jorge Linares at the Manchester Arena on Saturday March 25, live on Sky Sports.

Taylor made it three fights unbeaten in the paid ranks on Saturday night at The O2 with her second stoppage win after clinically dispatching Italian fifth round Monica Gentili on the undercard of Tony Bellew’s rollercoaster win over David Haye.

The Irish amateur sensation has already boxed in Manchester having gone the distance with Vivienne Obenauf there in December, and Taylor is ready to put on another scintillating display as the 30 year old gets into her groove as a pro.

“The Linares Crolla fight rematch is a brilliant fight and another massive event. It was a great atmosphere at The O2, but every fight is a big one. You can’t afford to slip up in the pro game so every fight is like an Olympic final.

“Saturday was the first time as a pro that I had a proper camp, I got great sparring in America with seasoned pros every day so I am learning all the time and I feel more than ever that the pro game is made for me. The body work was good and overall it was a very effective performance and getting a stoppage over a durable girl like that was the icing on the cake.

“It was great to get another stoppage win, it’s all gone well so far and the opponents are going to step up now as we kick on this year for a World title.”

Taylor’s fourth pro fight is part of a huge night of action in Manchester, topped by Linares and Crolla going toe-to-toe for the second time.

There’s a crossroads battle of Blackpool as Middleweights Brian Rose and Jack Arnfield lock horns and Martin J. Ward defends his British Super-Featherweight title against Maxi Hughes in their third clash in the paid ranks.

Marcus Morrison defends his WBC International Middleweight strap against Jason Welborn, while his Joe Gallagher gym-mate Hosea Burton looks to bounce back into title contention from his epic battle with Frank Buglioni, while there’s also action for Tomi Tatham, Ben Sheedy, Nathan Wheatley and Sean McGoldrick.

In an action fight against his fiercest pro opponent yet, Jose Ramirez rose to the occasion and claimed a vacant junior welterweight belt Saturday night, outpointing Amir Imam by unanimous decision in the Top Rank ESPN main event.

Oleksandr "The Nail" Gvozdyk spent most of the fight with Mehdi Amar nailing him with an assortment of combinations to claim a vacant interim light heavyweight world title, and Michael Conlan scored an impressive KO victory to stay unbeaten.

Bob Arum and Don King, the most prominent promoters in boxing history, have butted heads for decades. But they are friendly rivals these days and enjoy talking over old times and telling their war stories.

Floyd Mayweather says he will begin training "soon" for a transition into mixed martial arts and that he already has been in contact with UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley about working together in the near future.

Isaac Dogboe's father, Paul, apologized for his remarks aimed at his son's opponent, Jessie Magdaleno, in which he said his son would throw the Mexican descendant "over the wall of Mexico and present the title to Donald Trump."

Gennady Golovkin was in disbelief when Canelo Alvarez tested positive for a banned substance. Along with Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, they used the word "disappointment," not about Alvarez, but his team.

Golden Boy and Top Rank have signed a deal for Jorge Linares to defend his 135-pound crown against Vasyl Lomachenko, who will move up from 130 pounds, on May 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York, sources said.

Oscar Valdez kept his belt against Scott Quigg but paid a high price for it as the Mexican featherweight champion had to have his jaw wire shut days after Saturday's bloody fight. Valdez's manager said it was unclear as to when he'd be back in the ring.

Mikey Garcia won a world title in his fourth weight class with his victory over Sergey Lipinets and must now decide which direction he wants to go with a number of potential opponents at different weight classes on his radar.